The Tundra, of course, is the Japanese automaker’s full-size pickup, a 5,500-pound beast built in San Antonio.

Despite generally good reviews, the Tundra has never really competed with the domestic trucks that dominate the pickup segment.

Maybe that will change as Toyota executives begin to see the wide array and uses of big pickups in North Texas, area dealers say.

“It will raise their awareness of them — and that could be good for our truck,” said Pat Lobb, owner of Pat Lobb Toyota in McKinney and a member of Toyota’s national dealer council.

In April, Toyota said it would move its U.S. headquarters from Southern California — an enormous import car market — to Plano in truck-centric North Texas.

“We are constantly talking to [Toyota execs] about the impact here of trucks,” Lobb said. “When they come to Texas and see Tundras and Ford and Chevy trucks everywhere, they will get a firsthand look at what customers buy and how they use their trucks.”

Trucks rule the U.S. auto industry.

Full-size pickups are the most lucrative mainstream vehicles in the industry, analysts say, fetching an average of $10,000 or more in profit — and full-size SUVs are not far behind.

Moreover, Texas has long been the center of the pickup world, with more new trucks sold here than in any other state.

The California-based Tundra, meanwhile, claims only a 7.2 percent share of the national segment.

“California is such a different state and not heartland America,” said Rusty Gentry, general manager of Toyota of Plano. “When they see all the different grades of trucks that people here drive — from the guy who just needs a work truck to the white-collar professional in a luxury pickup — that could help our truck.”

“Trucks are lifestyle vehicles as well as tools in Texas,” Brauer said. “In California, they are only tools — and that’s all most Toyota executives have seen.”

Greater truck consciousness is just one of the effects that area Toyota dealers anticipate when Toyota executives begin arriving this summer.

The move may make Toyota seem more American, some say.

“This should be good news for dealers because Toyota has been trying for years to show that it is effectively an American brand,” said Jesse Toprak, chief analyst at Cars.com. “And this move to Texas will be a pretty big step in that direction.”

4,000 new customers

But dealers also expect service department work — and new-vehicle sales — to increase as up to 4,000 Toyota employees make the move to Texas, most of them presumably in Toyotas.

In addition, customer service could become more polished as dealers prepare for the real possibility that high-level Toyota executives could soon be standing in their showrooms or waiting in their service departments.

“It will be another set of eyes on you,” said Dane Minor, general manager of Freeman Toyota in Hurst. “From just an accountability perspective, everyone will need to be on their game.”

Like Toyota dealers throughout the U.S., local retailers have been under pressure for the last five years to improve their customer service and facilities.

Many have responded with expansions or new buildings, such as Toyota of Irving.

“We’re ready,” said David Schoemaker, who owns the Irving dealership.

Toyota officials are meeting with dealers nationwide — including those in North Texas — to discuss the move and answer questions.

“We have lots of questions,” said Steve Grogean, vice president and general manager of Toyota of Richardson. “But I think we already know the impact will be huge in sales and service.”

Fine-tuning the Tundra could also generate big returns.

“Pat [Lobb] and I serve on numerous Toyota dealer councils, and one thing we always say is we need more trucks,” said Minor, general manager of Freeman Toyota. “I’m sure they’re tired of hearing it. They need to see it, and they can see the prevalence of pickups down here.”

Toyota, for example, doesn’t offer a diesel-powered, heavy-duty pickup — a fixture of the truck-scape in North Texas.

“When someone is looking for that kind of vehicle, we don’t get any consideration,” said Gentry of Toyota of Plano, whose dealership is building a new facility at State Highway 121 and Spring Creek Parkway, “practically next door” to Toyota’s future headquarters.

Heavy-duty pickups give manufacturers added credibility, something Toyota and Nissan could both use in the domestic-dominated pickup segment.

“Consumers see those trucks and say if they can build a truck like that, they must build a great [conventional] pickup,” noted Eric Lyman, vice president of industry insights at TrueCar.com.

Part of fabric

Also, Toyota executives have probably not seen the diversity of truck uses you can see daily on Texas streets.

“They will see young girls driving big trucks and other uses that they won’t see in California,” said Grogean of Toyota of Richardson.

And Toyota still has lots of room to grow in the full-size pickup segment.

The Tundra accounts for only about 5 percent of the company’s U.S. sales, according to an analysis of sales figures in Automotive News.

Meanwhile, Ford’s F-series trucks generated 30.7 percent of its sales in 2013; General Motors’ trucks accounted for 23.8 percent of its U.S. sales; and the Ram provided 19.7 percent of the Chrysler Group’s sales.

When Toyota opened its big Tundra factory in San Antonio in 2006, company officials talked about sales of as many as 250,000 pickups in a few years.

Last year, Toyota sold about 113,000 Tundras, up a healthy 10.9 percent from the previous year. But that was only a fraction of the 763,000 F-series pickups that first-place Ford sold.

“Toyota really needs to appreciate pickup trucks beyond just their functionality,” said Brauer of Kelley Blue Book. “Texas will help them find their way.”

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